Former State Sen. Angela Giron will be present for President Obama’s announcement on gun control measures. (Denver Post file)

WASHINGTON — The latest push by President Barack Obama to change U.S. gun policy includes two Colorado politicians who know firsthand the political risks of a gun control platform: former state Sens. Angela Giron and John Morse.

The two Coloradans joined Obama at the White House on Tuesday when the president unveiled a series of executive actions on firearms that would require more gun dealers to get a license and shore up the process in which federal officials conduct background checks.

Their presence is notable — and may serve as a warning sign for Obama’s party — as Giron and Morse, both Democrats, lost recall elections in 2013 following their support of gun control measures in the legislature.

That 2013 election made history; before Giron and Morse were ousted, no other state lawmaker in Colorado had been recalled.

Reached after the White House rollout, Giron applauded what she called a “simple and reasonable” approach to gun safety. She described as “incredible” the experience of hearing an emotional Obama argue for his new executive actions.

“My hope is that now people are going to get motivated,” Giron said.

Asked about the political risks in pursuing this approach — and what her own electoral history says about that — she said simply: “Your job is to do whatever you can while you can.”

Victor Head, the Pueblo plumber who helped spearhead the recall of Sen. Angela Giron, will run for Pueblo County clerk and recorder.

“Seeing how apathetic our clerk was during the whole recall process was eye opening,” said Head, referring to current Democratic Pueblo Clerk Gilbert Ortiz, who has served two terms. “We need better leadership.”

Head, a Republican, plans to file the necessary paperwork on Monday and will have an official campaign kickoff Tuesday morning at the Pueblo County Courthouse.

Giron, a Democrat, was the subject of a recall for her support of tougher gun-control laws passed last year. Senate District 3 leans heavily in favor of Democrats, but still, more than 55 percent of voters in the special election opted to oust Giron from office.

Former state Rep. Sara Gagliardi of Arvada and current Arvada City Councilwoman Rachel Zenzinger are vying for the seat.

State Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp, an Arvada Democrat, considered the Senate District 19 vacancy, but on Friday announced via Twitter she would remain in the House and endorsed Gagliardi. In 2010, Gagliardi lost her re-election bid to Republican Rep. Libby Szabo in House District 27.

Zenzinger announced on Friday the endorsement of Sen. Mary Hodge, D-Brighton.

A Democratic vacancy committee will select Hudak’s successor. The replacement would serve in the upcoming legislative session but would have to run for the seat in November 2014 to keep it.

Democrats hold a single-seat majority (18-17) in the Senate after former Senate President John Morse of Colorado Springs and former Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo were ousted from office in September recall elections.

Organizers in the Hudak recall said on Wednesday they still plan to submit signatures to secretary of state’s office next week, despite Hudak’s resignation.

A wave of big money contributions from unions and PACs has flowed into the effort to help Democratic Sen. Evie Hudak stave off a potential recall election — one week before organizers plan to submit signatures to force the special election.

Sen. Evie Hudak

Finance reports filed late Monday night reveal the Democracy Defense Fund, which is backing Hudak, received about $120,000 in the reporting period from Oct. 21 until Nov. 19.

A snapshot of the reports reveals the NEA Fund for Children and Education, a Washington, D.C. – based political action committee, bankrolled the group with $25,000 and the union AFSCME doled out $20,000. Colorado’s AFL-CIO contributed $15,000, while the International Association of Firefighters contributed $10,000.

Through large donations from unions and PACs, the Democracy Defense Fund easily outpaced proponents to the recall in fundraising totals. Last week, Recall Hudak Too, the group looking to oust Hudak, reported raising $64,600 in the same time frame, with most of the money coming from hundreds of small dollar contributors.

Most of the expenditures reported by the Democracy Defense Fund went toward consulting services by the national communications firm Strategies 360, which has a Denver office, and Oregon based Democracy Resources (this group specializes in ballot measure qualification and direct voter contact).

Campaign finance reports unveiled Thursday night showed that the group organizing to recall Democratic Sen. Evie Hudak raised about $64,600 in a period from mid-October until mid-November.

The group, Recall Hudak Too, raked in hundreds of contributions that range from $10 to $1,000 (Newly elected state Sen. Bernie Herpin, R-Colorado Springs, who won his seat in the John Morse recall, contributed $1,000). The donations come from contributors nationwide. In the group’s first reporting period, it raised about $23,300.

In the same reporting period filed Thursday, the group doled out $43,700 in expenditures, with $27,500 going to the El Paso County – based TPM LLC for “Consultant & Professional services.” An inquiry late Thursday night to the Recall Hudak Too campaign for more information about TPM’s services was not immediately answered.

Another chunk of cash, about $2,844, went to Grand Junction-based Tactical Data Solutions, which “maintains proprietary voter, district and precinct level historic data.”

Organizers have until Dec. 3 to gather nearly 18,900 signatures in Hudak’s Arvada-based Senate District 19 to force a special election of the state lawmaker for her support of stricter Colorado gun laws. The state’s most powerful anti-gun control group, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, is working closely with the Recall Hudak Too organizers.

A leader in an effort to recall Democratic Sen. Evie Hudak registered as a voter in the lawmaker’s district Oct. 5 — a day after organizers were certified by the secretary of state to begin gathering signatures to have the recall placed on the ballot.

Mike McAlpine was a registered Republican from Boulder, but on Oct. 5 he changed his voter address and party affiliation to unaffiliated, according to Colorado voter records. His new address is the same Arvada address as Laura Woods, the woman who on Oct. 4 had the recall petition format certified by the secretary of state.

McAlpine could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

The newly registered Arvada voter — and Hudak constituent — told The Denver Post in a recent article, “We’re not being heard. We have legislation without any real representation.”

He and organizers in Hudak’s Senate District 19 must gather about 18,900 signatures before a early December deadline in order to have the special election.

In the wake of two successful recalls of state Sens. John Morse and Angela Giron in September, Democrats now have a single-seat majority in the Senate.

Hudak is the target of the recall for her support of stricter gun laws in Colorado, and with Democrats possessing a 18-17 majority in the Senate, it makes the recall attempt amplified even more. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, the state’s most powerful anti-gun lobby, is working closely with recall organizers.

A renewed and spirited effort is now underway to recall Sen. Evie Hudak, a Democrat from Westminster, less than six months after an initial effort faltered.

Organizers from within Senate District 19 were certified by the Secretary of State late Friday to begin gathering signatures to have a recall placed on the ballot. The group, “Recall Hudak, too,” must gather about 18,900 valid signatures within a 60-day time frame, and on its website the group even has a running ticker that counts down to the deadline.

“She has infringed upon our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. She has voted to make all citizens less safe and to drive hundreds of jobs from Colorado,” reads an excerpt of the petition language e-mailed by Mike McAlpine, a spokesman for the group.

The effort puts in motion what many in Colorado political circles have feared: a continuous and never ending election cycle.

Hudak’s Democratic colleagues, Senate President John Morse and Sen. Angela Giron were ousted from office in September by voters in their southern Colorado districts for backing controversial gun-control laws.

Hudak’s metro-area district mirrors Morse’s in that it’s divided into thirds among Democrats, Republicans and unaffilated voters. Hudak won the seat in 2012 by about 580 votes with a third-party candidate on the ballot.

“A small group is seeking to undo the will of voters, who re-elected me to the Senate last November. Unable to defeat me then, they are now attempting a political power grab using a low voter turnout, no mail ballot recall election strategy,” Hudak said in a statement, alluding to a Denver District court judge’s ruling on a Constitutional matter that in turn nullified mail-ballots in the recalls of Morse and Giron.

The group leading the recall of Senate President John Morse wants him to participate in a town hall style discussion, though it’s not going to happen as the state lawmaker has declined the request.

Sen. John Morse, D-Colo. Springs

Morse, an El Paso County Democrat, was invited via e-mail by the Basic Freedom Defense Fund to take part in the town hall next week at a theater in Manitou Springs, located in his Senate District 11. A spokeswoman for the group also extended an invite to Morse last weekended when the two appeared on a political cable television show, where he declined.

“I am meeting with constituents in person at their doorsteps,” Morse said Thursday. “I will run my campaign and the BFDF will not.”

“I had a telephone town hall with about 3,000 people on it,” said Morse, who faces a Sept. 10 recall election. “Now that was effective.”

Former Colorado Springs City Councilman Bernie Herpin is the Republican candidate on the ballot. Request for comment from Herpin, about if he wants to debate Morse, were not immediately returned Thursday.

The group backing Senate President John Morse unveiled their first TV ad Monday, highlighting the state lawmaker’s time as a former police chief and his work at the state Capitol.

Noticeably absent from Morse’s 1-minute television spot — which will hit airwaves Tuesday and run until next week — is the mention of gun-control laws he backed this past legislative session. It’s the reason Morse and Sen. Angela Giron, D-Pueblo, are the first Colorado lawmakers to face recall elections scheduled for Sept. 10.

“Keeping people safe and interacting with parents to help them keep their children safe, it’s my job to make sure that happens,” said Morse in the ad titled Serve and Protect. “It’s about protecting what matters most.”

Morse goes on to talk about the economic challenges the state faces and how he will look to create jobs in Colorado, but that “extreme groups from Denver” want recall elections that would cost $336,000. The El Paso County Clerk and Recorder — in numerous interviews — has said the special election will cost taxpayers about $150,000. The Pueblo Clerk has estimated the cost of Giron’s recall to be about $186,000.

In his first public comments to local media since early June when organizers gathered enough signatures to force the recall election, Morse, a Democrat who is term-limited in 2014, said he’s accepted the fact that some in his district want to hold an election that seeks his ouster from office.

Sen. John Morse, D-Colo. Springs

“We should be focused on governing and not politicking,” said Morse. “But there’s going to be an election and there’s no changing that. Some in my district want another campaign and that’s what they’ll get. I’m talking to my constituents and will work for their votes.”

Morse won his Senate District 11 seat in 2010 by less than 350 votes in an election with a Libertarian candidate.

With the legislative session winding down, organizers in his district last Spring began gathering signatures to oust him from office for his leadership on tougher Colorado gun laws that limit ammunition magazines and require universal background checks on all sales and transfers.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.